1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic device for the analysis of a patient's urine, suitable for being applied in series to the catheter of the patient's urine to continuously monitor the renal activity of the patient.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The production of devices for the chemical analysis of urine, equipped with electrochemical measuring cells, is known in the art. These devices are positioned in specific analysis laboratories of the hospital and effect the desired measurements (for example pH, sodium, potassium, chloride and ammonium ions) on a sample taken manually by a health worker. Before being analyzed, the sample is diluted and is then introduced into the electrochemical measurement cell.
This procedure can be laborious and requires the intervention of the health worker whenever a chemical analysis of the patient is required. The main difficulties are: the impossibility of continuously monitoring the urine as soon as it is produced, as can be important in the case of serious patients or intensive-care patients;                the risk deriving from transporting the sample taken from the patient to the analysis laboratory;        the necessity of having a constant availability of the analysis laboratory for effecting clinical chemical analyses with the necessary frequency.        
The use of devices in series with the catheter of the patient's urine, suitable for measuring the volume of urine produced over a time period, is also known. These known devices comprise a system for dividing the urine into drops and a sensor capable of counting the drops formed; these types of apparatuses, however, are not capable of effecting a clinical chemical analysis of the urine, and consequently a manual sampling must be taken (for example from a discharge container of the device), in addition to the dilution of the sample taken for subsequent analysis in the electrochemical measurement cell.